4B - Thursday, December 10, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4B - Thursday, December10, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom MACBETH From Page lB and the design crew took pains to create a set and costumes that would be historically accurate but not so specific as to take away from the play's universal themes. More than anything, the setting is a metaphor for the characters' psy- chological damage. "It might have been a church, but now it's a hospital," Kerr says of his setting, "So there's a sense of transformation and decay, and yet curative hope, going on all at once." "Dingy" and "decrepit" are two words costume director Rachel Jahn, a senior design and produc- tion major in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, used to describe Kerr's rendering. The set and costume designs reflect a color- less, broken world. The attention to detail is impressive, from the nostalgic black-and-white fam- ily photos taped above a cot to the eerie brown gas masks that Jahn constructed from authentic peri- od-era masks and store-bought canvas. "We wanted there to be a sense of history, and there's a lot of things that are happening here ... that you don't necessarily see, that you don't necessarily know about," Jahn says. Mystery and mysticism, the things "you don't see," are essen- tial to the design of Macbeth. The "Macbeth" witches (of "Double, double toil and trouble" fame) appear twice in the play to proph- esize, as well as'inspire, the action. For this production, Kerr chose to portray the witches as nuns. According to Jahn, this was the most controversial costume deci- sion. To lessen the controversy, the witches lower a black veil that rids them of their nun-ness and turns them into a "non-entity" before they utter their lines. "We found all these different 'roles' for everyone to play inside this world," Jahn explains. Her costumes paint Macbeth as a fighter pilot, wife Lady Macbeth as a nurse and enemy Macduff as a military surgeon. Jahn spent her summer vaca- tion mining Google Images and library books for historical tid- bits to use in the production - for instance, the early 20th century was full of facial hair, so many of the male actors have grown beards for the performance. Obviously, blood is a major component of "Macbeth" as well. While the exact recipe is a secret of the trade, Jahn mentioned Her- shey's syrup as a possible ingre- dient. The blood in "Macbeth" is mostly what Jahn describes as "old blood," dripping from dag- gers or red-stained hands. Even though Jahn calls her blood more "minimal" and "graphic" than the blood in some other productions, it's still a concern when the ward- robe crew does laundry between shows. The set remains the same throughout all five acts of "Mac- beth." Institutional gray cots are lined up in a room that looks grungy but seems to retain some former glory with artful pillars and arches arranged in the back- ground. Set designer Vincent Moun- tain, associate professor of design in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, brings out the humanity in "Macbeth" in the little things: bland grey clothes hanging on a line, crutches haphazardly strewn beside a hospital bed. But none of Mountain's set designs are present in the produc- tion's minute-long trailer, which readers can find on YouTube. Min- imalist and abstract, it interposes World War I photo footage with a scene of Lady Macbeth symboli- cally baptizing her husband in a tub of blood. He emerges brutal and forceful, a transformation that occurs near the beginning of "Macbeth." An Ensemble Production Wolfson's Macbeth will be joined by Music, Theatre & Dance junior Anna Robinson as Lady Macbeth, along with a supporting cast made up of mostly upperclass- men, with one first-year Music, Theatre & Dance student, David Kaplinsky, who plays James. "The director trusts you to be self-motivated ... and allows you the space to try new things in the rehearsal process," Kaplinsky says of his first college-level perfor- mance. When the production was found to be lacking in "males of size," Kerr found two Michigan football players to round out the cast. Both in the College of Liter- ate, Science and the Arts, fifth- year senior and starting offensive lineman David Moosman and senior quarterback David Cone portray soldiers. Also unaffiliated with the School of Music,'Theatre & Dance, a 12-year-old Tappan Middle School student will play Little Macduff. About 60 students auditioned for the 29 roles in Macbeth, with preference given to acting BFA undergraduates. These BFA stu- dents are required to audition music, and actors have to find the right cadence to make lines reso- nate that might sound stilted to modern-day speakers of English. Kerr's actors don't use British accents, which he thinks would narrow down the play by speci- fying the time and place of the action. Instead, they focus on clear, diction to bring the lines across to audiences. Macbeth is essentially a good man whose mind is corrupted byhis wife. - Thomas Wolfson, performer Kerr sees as much of a psycho- logical study as a linear progres- sion in "Macbeth." What makes "Macbeth" stand out are the snap- shots of a fanatical Macbeth rant- ing to a ghost as he hosts a dinner party or a guilty Lady Macbeth trying and trying to wash the blood off her hands. And it's these psychological details that will be emphasized in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance's production to bring across central themes of ambition, fate and the supernatural. Large themes require a large space, and so, of this year's main- stage plays, "Macbeth" is the only one to take the stage at the 1,380- seat Power Center for the Per- forming Arts. "To put something on in the Power Center, it needs to have size," Kerr explains, "and a Shake- speare play ... usually has size to it - it's dealing with big ideas, big themes." But there's still room for the audience to add its own interpre- tation to Kerr's sparse presenta- tion of a bleak world. "I think that's one of the things theater can do ... (it's) not spelling out all the details for the audience, you have to work too. It's a little different from watching a film on a small screen in your living room," Kerr says. At only $9 for students, it's not much of a price difference, either. Provided no sudden stroke of bad luck hits before 7:30 p.m. tonight, the University's production of "Macbeth" promises a journey to a traumatized world where "Fair is foul and foul is fair." for all mainstage productions and must fulfill a "studio cred- it" requirement by performing onstage. This can be accomplished through School of Music, Theatre & Dance productions like "Mac- beth," or in student-run shows with Basement Arts or other orga- nizations. Throughout the school year, the Department of Theatre & Drama produces five mainstage plays. Shakespearean works are more rare, though, the last one being "As You Like It," performed last spring. One major difficulty in per- forming Shakespeare is the lan- guage. Delivering Shakespearean lines is comparable to performing Making Shakespeare clear is no easy task - scores of high school English classes have spent hours puzzled over lines like "Things bad begun make strong them- selves by ill" (Act III, Scene II). But in a live production, an actor's delivery and facial expression can make a big difference in the way lines are interpreted. Sometimes, directors with a more modern take on Shake- speare will change the script to incorporate contemporary lan- guage, but the only changes Kerr has made to the original script are a few cuts to make the action flow more quickly. "Shakespeare wrote scenes, not plays," Kerr theorizes. TV FRIENDS From Page 2B writing? Absolutely. We all know that correlation does not imply causation. And with a test group size of only 300, I can't help but be a little skep- tical. But then I read the abstract. While the psychological jargon reassured me that that study was somewhat legitimate, I still felt pretty defensive until the last sentence: "Results provide new evidence for both compensatory and complementary uses and gratifications of entertainment media." Now, I didn't read the actual research paper (I decidedly refused to pay the $25 fee for access to the paper for a mere day. Seriously, paying for access to a University study? "That's the Michigan difference."), but it sounds as though the study wasn't designed to insult me and other TV lovers. Shocking, I know. Watching television for "compensatory and complementary uses" probably isn't the healthiest way to fill the void, but I'm sure we can all think of worse things lonely people could do with their time. And if it makes them feel better, who's to say relating to a TV character is a bad thing at all? We all remember pretending to be Power Rangers as kids. And while my particular group of childhood playmates spent most of the time arguing over who got to be which color, there was always that one group of kids that had it all figured it out. They didn't just pretend to be Power Rangers, they were Power Rangers. Maybe they were a little weird, and maybe they were mocked, but who were we to tell them they weren't actu- ally Jason, Kimberly, Zack, Billy, Tommy and Trini? While my fun was at a standstill until little Robby sucked it up and accepted that he was stuck as the Blue Ranger, they were off enjoying themselves. Long story short, the point is, even if they were identify- ing with these characters because they were lonely (and they probably weren't), they were having a good time. Having a good time - or, the "gratifica- tions of entertainment media" - is what decent television should be about. And if this studyhas anylastingmerit,maybethe indus- try will realize its power and takeit to heart. If lonely people are relating closely to TV characters, maybe watching their pseudo- friends struggle and triumph would instill in them a sense of hope. I'm notsaying we need more programming like "Full House," but watching my forlorn BFF Artie come out on top every once in a while couldn't hurt and would certainly make me happier. In the end, who really cares if people are relating to TV because they're lonely? First- rate work is being appreciated, and people in need of comfort are finding it. Besides, I'm sure original Blue Ranger, Billy Cranston, was a much better friend than little Robby anyway. FOR RETURNING STUDENTS? UNIVERSITY WE WAN YOU LACK. HOUSING. Stockwell, Mosher-Jordan, wwwoptionshousmgumichedu Northwood III, North Quad, and----- ---------.. -. --.-.'. more...all reserved just for you. The Time of Your Life. .. . . . . . . ......... ........ .. s . . UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN D-V IsION O ST DEN T AFFAIRS ,: ; . G > .F ;:} :: : d : .; .:. rrl f. . _ ' c '' n I 1 ' . .. . ... . i.._ f % y ti U 'THE PAGEMASTER' (1994) Growing up animated By HANS YADAV like co Daily Arts Writer lights a off into When reminiscing about our childhoods, we more often than not focus on the good memories - the playing, the laughing and the lack of responsibility. It's easy, though, to forget those repressed moments of terror in the night or being alienated by peers and bul- lies. Ultimately, in order to grow out of childhood, we must at some point dive headfirst into our fears and conquer them. "The Pagemaster" is a story about a boy named Richard (Macaulay Culkin, "Saved!") who is scared of everything. His par- ents are at their wits' end trying to get him to take any risks in life. Richard's dad even builds him a tree house, but when asked to come up and check it out, Richard just gives a barrage of statistics on the number of household-related accidents. Finally, Richard's dad sends him to buy some nails for the tree house, and though Richard isn't happy about venturing into the world alone, he goes begrudgingly. Arming his bike with a riot shield- above.( the loc coward their bi Even fies and in a pui the str ian (Ch of Desp BE all-imp ard stun atrium a wond famous Richar wakes formed The: tury Fo ntraption complete with to any Disney film from that era, nd sounds, Richard rides though great lengths were taken the night as a storm brews to differentiate "The Pagemaster" On his way, he encounters from those Disney hits. For one, al bullies, who call him a "The Pagemaster" incorporates for refusing to try jumping CGI to transition from a live- ke ramp. action movie into a cartoon one: tually, the storm intensi- When Richard wakes up from his J Richard must take refuge accident, paint drops begin falling blic library. There he meets on his head, and looks up to see the ange, yet passionate librar- ceiling mural melting. ristopher Lloyd, "The Tale By far, the quality that most dis- 'ereaux") who gives him an tinguishes "The Pagemaster" from its Disney rivals is its maturity. For children, certain scenes are truly terrifying. When the literary char- efore drugs, acter Dr. Jekyll (voiced by Leon- ard Nimoy, "Star Trek") drinks a Iacauly still putrid green potion, he transforms into hishideously evil counterpart, got trippy. Mr. Hyde, ina series of violent con- vulsions. Colors play a big role in the ortant library card. Rich- film and contribute to these scary mbles his way into the main moments as well. When Captain and finds himself beneath Ahab (voiced by George Hearn, derfully colorful mural of "Flags of our Fathers") sees Moby storybook characters. Dick, insanity consumes him, d slips, bumps his head, and and the serene blue ocean scene up to find himself trans- is stained crimson and black to into a cartoon. reveal the character's demonic film, produced by 20th Cen- obsession for with white whale. x, is made in a style similar The movie is also riddled with allusions, irony and metaphors. The allusions come in the form of the various storybook characters Richard encounters as part of the central plot, but there are more subtle ones incorporated as well, like the raven from Edgar Allen Poe's classic poem. The instances of irony will escape most children (like when one talking book criti- cizes another book for not hav- ing a spine), but at least the most important message - and conse- quently the central metaphor of the movie - remains accessible to all age groups. The obstacles Rich- ard faces in the cartoon world mir- ror those insurmountable hurdles found in the real world. Whether Richard actually entered the cartoon world or if he dreamt everything up remains largely ambiguous. But on his ride back home at the end of the film, he sees the ramp he knew before he would never able to clear and, sud- denly, he is peddling toward it at full speed - with a grin on his face. 0 ARTS ATTACK! LOOK OUT! E-mail join.arts@umich.edu to join arts.